


What we say, and what we ought to have said

by TheDaysOfGold



Series: Psycho Pass - Between the Lines [1]
Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Friendship, Novelisation, Platonic Relationships, Psycho Pass - Freeform, episode 10, rewriting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21731293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDaysOfGold/pseuds/TheDaysOfGold
Summary: Episode: 10Timestamp: 19:28Kogami has gone missing under Akane's watch, and she calls in Ginoza and the rest of Division One to track him down. But below the surface, in the abandoned subway line, tension rises at the prospect that Kogami took the chance to fool the rookie Inspector and make a run for freedom. Akane faces the truth that Enforcers aren't always what she ideally thinks them to be, and Ginoza faces a pain that he's felt before, having to bid farewell to another friend. That is, until a desperate call comes down the line.Basically, a retelling of the scene at the end of episode ten. Just a little fun, going a little deeper into what the characters might have been thinking, reading between the lines of what they said. I own nothing from Psycho Pass.
Series: Psycho Pass - Between the Lines [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1566241
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	What we say, and what we ought to have said

“I’m seeing some pretty heavy jamming in this area, but the range is limited,” Kunizuka says, looking up from the keyboard. Blue lines flash on black screens, but she’s the only one looking at the information, the only one with any faith in the outdated records.

They're beneath the old subway line, called in to act as backup as the afternoon stretches on, following a call from a less-than pulled-together Akane. _Kogami has gone missing._ That’s what she’d said over the communicator, and Ginoza could feel his heart race at the mere mention of the words.

Fear. It was a demon he knew well. He could practically smell the foul odour when it latched claws into him. Never letting go. It clouded his Psycho Pass more than the murders, or the blood, or the psychopaths, or the inhumane outcome of the Dominators when set to lethal eliminator. Nothing clouded an unstable psycho pass like fear. Always fear. But fear of what? He never really knew.

“Where’s the source of the jamming?” He asks in reply, and his back is turned. Akane isn’t sure if that’s to hide the expression, or to keep a steady stare on their entrance point; the doors of the underground subway, flooded with stale water. But what would he want to see most? Kogami coming out, or flagging a need to go in?

“It’s coming from the south-west,” Kunizuka replies, tapping away again, fingers moving rhythmically like everyone schooled in the modern age. But her voice is confused. “This doesn’t make sense. According to the map, there shouldn’t be anything in that section.”

“Alright, let’s set up a relay base right here,” Ginoza answers, turning. There’s a determination on that cold face, Akane’s seen it before, but she’s still not sure where that determination is aimed. With Ginoza, she’s never really sure. He continues, voice completely even. From the sound alone, you’d never think anything was wrong. But these things are always wrong. “Don’t trust the map data. Check every gap and corner thoroughly.”

_If Kogami is here, I want him found. I need him found._

The Inspector turns away again, as if he’s painfully aware that his next statement will anger Akane. “Also, as soon as you see Kogami,” without pause. “Shoot him with the Dominator. There is no need to warn him.”

“But we still don’t know if he was actually trying to run away!” Akane argues.

_Ah, there’s that rookie fire. So full of justice, so full of hope. That’ll only get you killed, Tsunemori, or worse._

He speaks simply, plainly, despite her evident anger. “The Sibyl System will make that determination for us.”

_We don’t have a choice in the matter, even if we wanted one._

“If Kogami did nothing wrong, then his crime coefficient will be the same as the last time you shot him.” Ginoza drawls. “And then, the paralyzer mode will knock him out.”

Akane seems as if she wants to say something, but Kagari gets a snide comment in first. “If he really wanted to fly the coup,” he speaks as if someone’s life doesn’t hang in the balance, leaning back casually. “Then, it’ll mercilessly go into Eliminator Mode, and that’s it.”

Ginoza doesn’t particularly like the conviction. “Yes, well the schematic scan is never wrong,” He answers thinly. “It will reveal Kogami’s true intentions,”

_And pray to the gods that Sibyl doesn’t get it wrong._

“Are you really saying you’d be alright with killing him?” Akane shouts, showing no sign of backing down. How can a girl so small have so much rage? Have so much moral clarity in a world so stripped of it?

_Oh, that’s right. Because she’s not lost anything yet._

Ginoza turns further, hiding his face away.

“You used to be his friend, didn’t you?” She demands, but there’s no use in appealing to his guilt. It’s as deep as an ocean, and her idealism is unsubstantiated and inexperienced.

_Your line of thinking got everyone I’ve ever known thrown into the Isolation Facility, or into the dirt like a dog. I will not follow Kogami into this mess. He wouldn’t listen to me then. He won’t listen to me now._

“If he does end up dying, Inspector Tsunemori,” he says instead, betraying no flavour of thought in his tone. Well, not to Akane at least, but old ears hear these sorts of things. “Then it’ll be due to your poor supervision,”

She hesitates at that, the words like vinegar in a wound, but he’s too far down the rabbit hole to stop the runaway train now.

“If you had any degree of control over Kogami, then we wouldn’t be in this position of potentially having to kill the man,”

_Another one I’d fail to protect._

“Tell me, how does it feel knowing someone could die because of your incompetence?” And though Ginoza aims his hostility at her, she’s not the one who deserves his calm rage. _You're the one who abandoned blood and water to keep your own Psycho Pass clear._

Akane is quiet. She’s rarely quiet. The constant scolding at the office, the humiliation in the field, the ever-present sense of inferiority placed upon her; she always fights back.

_Why do you get on my nerve? Why is it you?_

_Oh, that’s right. Kogami does it too._

“Alright,” Masaoka cuts in, and Akane doesn’t so much see his movement as she does hear his footsteps. It seems no one registers the old man move, not until he lifts Ginoza by the collar like a dog picks up its pups by the scruff. Funny, the turn of phrase.

The Inspector can’t find words, despite them barrelling like a train a moment ago. Instead, it’s the old man that speaks, like a father scolds a son. “That’s enough, don’t you think? You're being a little harsh on the girl,” then he tosses Ginoza to the side, because insult always goes better with injury.

Ginoza stumbles, and Akane’s shaken by the brutality that Enforcers can so easily dip into, but as the Inspector stumbles back, what surprises her more is his silence. No reply. No retort. No admonishment.

Nothing.

_I’d forgotten that you actually cared, old man. Pity it was never about me._

But it’s surprise that paints Ginoza, more than rage. He’s never really lent into rage. It’s never really served a purpose. His fatal flaw, rather, is that he always looks away. Always turns the other cheek. Always bows his head to the system. He left Kogami, his own partner, to be demoted without so much as putting up a fight. He let his own father be dragged through the mud to preserve a career that he wasn’t particularly talented for anyway. He always looked the other way.

_Always the coward._

But now he watches on, dumbfounded by the old man who wears a smile as if he’s done nothing more than shout at the dog that keeps scratching at the rug. A moment of silence hangs in the air, where no one dares speak. Most of the crew know the familial bonds that strain on various members, but for Akane, oblivious to the true nature of the words, there seems some deeper revelation from the dangerous space we call ‘between the lines’.

And then the dial tone rings. The communication is online.

“It’s from Kogami,” Kunizuka exclaims, tapping at the keyboard.

And the answer is the sound of heaven itself.

“Run a trace on my location,” Kogami orders. He’s confident, as if he’d heard the squabbling of the previous argument. As if only he can hear what they really ought to say. “Code 108 in progress. Requesting immediate backup,”

Each word paints his innocence in shades of white, and there’s nothing Ginoza could say to wipe the smile off his crew’s faces.

“Send in the drones!” He orders, life pumped back into his blood.

_You bastard, putting me through this. Why are you so determined to pull my Psycho Pass down with yours? Why am I so determined to go down with you?_

Kunizuka puts some restraints on the order. “We don’t know the right path-”

“Then pick them at random!” Ginoza cuts in. “Make sure at least one of those drones reaches him!”

The rest of the crew spring into life, Masaoka and Akane taking Dominators into the fray, and Ginoza leading every step of the way.

_I won’t abandon you. Not again,_

_you idiot._

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all,
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! I don't think Psycho Pass gets enough content, so I thought I'd give a little breadth to some of my favourite scenes. This is a retelling of the story, and I do not at all own any of the Psycho Pass characters, plot lines or concepts. I just like the story, and enjoy expanding on it.
> 
> If you liked the story, you know what to do.


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